Over the past few days, there’s been a murmur in Italy that West Ham are interested in signing Ivan Jurić from Hellas Verona to replace David Moyes.
The Croatian manager has led the Serie A side to eighth spot in the league so far, and his performances at the helm of the minnows has caught the attention of bigger clubs, including the Hammers.
However, what would happen if Jurić did leave? They’d try and get Leeds’ Marcelo Bielsa.
That’s what L’Arena suggest on Wednesday, although the article raises more questions than it gives answers.
Mostly because they keep referring to claims from journalists in Argentina, but we’ve had a look and we can’t find anything on the subject.
It’s pointed out that while Bielsa has already had a brief spell in Italy (48 hours at Lazio), he has never actually managed there.
Why Verona? ‘Marcelo goes where the heart and the sense of the challenge takes him’. He also has ‘warrior blood, legionary hands’ and a move to Hellas would be ‘a bridge’ to bring his ‘gospel’ to Italian territories.
All of this, however, depends on what happens at Elland Road in the coming months.
If Leeds get promoted to the Premier League, then it’s likely Bielsa will stay and continue his adventure in the north of England.
If they don’t, then the Argentine ‘will leave in the event of failure to be promoted’.
He’s described as a ‘living myth’, ‘not understood by everyone, not loved by everyone’, and it’s made clear that ‘from Buenos Aires, they say a preferential channel has been identified to seat Bielsa, Maurizio Setti (Verona’s chairman) and the sporting director Tony D’Amico at the negotiating table’.
Still, the first choice for Verona would be to continue with Jurić at the helm, even if they are aware that West Ham aren’t going to give up so quickly.
To us, this all sounds like a love letter to Bielsa in case the Croatian manager leaves in hope he will sign for them.
There doesn’t appear to be any of L’Arena’s own information in there, suggesting this hasn’t come from the club, but likely from Argentina, somewhere.
We can’t find it, however, so we’re not going to hold our breath over this one just yet, and we would suggest Leeds fans not to start panicking either.
